Employment law stories in the news – 05.02.2018 to 11.02.2018

In the latest of our series of posts on employment law stories in the news, we take a look at ten employment law stories that have made the headlines between 5 February and 11 February 2018

  1. Brighton hospital’s race equality champion wins employment tribunal – The race equality champion at a Brighton hospital suffered discrimination and victimisation at work, an employment tribunal has ruled. Problems arose after compassionate leave was taken by Vivienne Lyfar-Cissé, who chaired the hospital trust’s BME Network, representing BME (black and minority ethic) staff (Brighton and Hove News)
  2. Tesco equal pay claim could cost supermarket up to £4bn – Tesco is facing a demand for up to £4bn in back pay from thousands of mainly female shopworkers in what could become the UK’s largest ever equal pay claim (The Guardian)
  3. Government proposes ‘day one’ workers’ rights in Taylor response – The government has responded to a wide-scale review of employment practices by recommending ‘day one rights’ for workers in the so-called ‘gig economy’, including sick-pay and holiday entitlement, as well as proposals to help zero-hour and agency workers request stable contracts (Law Society Gazette)
  4. EAT upholds age discrimination appeal by firefighters who faced age-banded pensions – A group of London firefighters has won an appeal to overturn an employment tribunal ruling that they were not subject to age discrimination after new pension rules were brought in (People Management)
  5. DPD courier who was fined for day off to see doctor dies from diabetes – A courier for the parcel giant DPD who was fined for attending a medical appointment to treat his diabetes collapsed and died of the disease, it has emerged. Don Lane, 53, from Christchurch in Dorset, missed appointments with specialists because he felt under pressure to cover his round and faced DPD’s £150 daily penalties if he did not find cover, his widow has told the Guardian (The Guardian)
  6. Farm worker seriously injured after fall from cherry picker – Martin Geoffrey Warkup, a partner in a farming company, has been sentenced today after a worker fell from a cherry picker. Hull and Holderness Magistrates’ Court heard that the employee suffered fractures to 18 ribs and both wrists as well as internal injuries when he fell approximately 10 metres from a cherry picker at Manor Farm, Barmston, Driffield in July 2016 (HSE)
  7. Michael Woodford battles with insurer over Olympus legal fees – The former Olympus president who lifted the lid on a $1.7bn accounting scandal at the company is fighting a legal battle with insurers ahead of an upcoming High Court clash with his former employers (The Financial Times)
  8. Admin worker prevented from returning to work after sick leave was unfairly dismissed, says judge – An administrator prevented from returning to work after six months’ sick leave when she was judged fit by occupational health was unfairly dismissed, a tribunal has ruled. Watford Employment Tribunal heard on 22 and 23 May 2017 that Alison Stack was an administrator for the Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust from 6 June 2005 until her resignation on 29 July 2016 (People Management)
  9. Couriers carrying blood for NHS win full employment rights – Couriers carrying emergency blood supplies for the NHS have won full employment rights in a first for the gig economy. The Doctors Laboratory (TDL), a company that provides pathology services, had argued that all its cyclists, motorcyclists and van drivers were self-employed contractors with no employment rights beyond basic health and safety and anti discrimination rules (The Guardian)
  10. Reading Borough Council pays £3m to female employees including staff at Sir John Madejski Academy – The borough council is in dispute with more than 90 women over equal pay claims, it has been revealed. Reading Borough Council (RBC) has forked out more than £3m to 87 claimants, including staff at John Madejski Academy in Hartland Road (Reading Chronicle)